February 2010

News/Events

February 15 – President’s Day.  Find out about some big numbers that you wish Congress would understand.

March 4 – March Forth with Math.  Learn how to make Math fun and interesting. Workshop details are at www.nlightening.com or send an email to Sarah at BEST.StPeters@gmail.com for a complete program.

March 1 thru 7 is METS week in Missouri, so stay tuned for email with what’s happening; you won’t want to miss out.  The M is for Math because “Math Rocks!”

Happy February Birthday to Cameron, Silvia, Ellyse, Diamond, Paul, Wesley, and Lauren!

5 Part Series: Myths That Can Cause Math Anxiety
Myth #3: MATH CREATES LOGIC, NOT CREATIVITY.

The grain of truth in this myth is that, of course, math does require logic. But what does this mean? It means that we want things to make sense. We don’t want our equations to assert that 1 is equal to 2. This is no different from any other field of human endeavor, in which we want our results and propositions to be meaningful – and they can’t be meaningful if they do not jive with the principles of logic that are common to all mankind. Mathematics is somewhat unique in that it has elevated ordinary logic almost to the level of an art form, but this is because logic itself is a kind of structure – an idea – and mathematics is concerned with precisely that sort of thing.

But it is simply a mistake to suppose that logic is what mathematics is about, or that being a mathematician means being uncreative or unintuitive, for exactly the opposite is the case. The great mathematicians, indeed, are poets in their soul.
How can we best illustrate this? Consider the ancient Greeks, such as Pythagoras, who first brought mathematics to the level of an abstract study of ideas. They noticed something truly astounding: that the musical tones most pleasing to the ear are those achieved by dividing a plucked string into ratios of integers. For instance, the musical interval of a “fifth” is achieved by plucking a taut string whilst pressing the finger against it at a distance exactly four-fifths along its total length. From such insights, the Pythagoreans developed an elaborate and beautiful theory of the nature of physical reality, one based on number. And to them we owe an immense debt, for to whom does not music bring joy? Yet no one could argue that music is a cold, unfeeling enterprise of mere logic and calculation.

For more information, please visit http://www.mathacademy.com/pr/minitext/anxiety

Tips and Techniques: Think Before You Speak

All too often students blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. While we want to encourage a certain amount of “risk taking” by our students, we also want them to be thoughtful in their responses. In the words of John Wooden, “Be quick, but don’t hurry” – in Latin, festina lente, “hasten slowly”.

What is the most common wrong answer for each of these questions

• “How far is it from 67 up to 100?” [43]
• 7 – 2 ½ = ______ [5 ½]
• 3 x 5 ½ = ______ [15 ½]
• 6 ÷ ½ = ______ [3]
• A student bought three pencils for 10 cents each and two erasers for 5 cents each. Find the total cost of all of the pencils and erasers. [15 cents]
• A 100 pound watermelon is 95% water and 5% melon. How much water must be removed to make it 50% water and 50% melon? [45% or 45 pounds]
• A fish tank is three-fourths full. Two-thirds of the water leaks out. How much of the tank still contains water? [1 ½]
• (x + y)² = ______ [x² + y²]

When we see our students making these kinds of mistakes, it is worthwhile to put down our pencils and spend some time discussing the fact that while many math questions are as straightforward as they may seem, many are not. Most important of all, we always have to be thinking when doing math.